Neck pain most frequent injury in car crashes: ICBC

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) says neck pain is the most frequent type of injury reported in motor vehicle crashes.
Citing statistics from 2002-06, John Gane, ICBCs manager of vehicle safety and research, says: “More than 70% of people injured in a crash report a soft tissue injury to their neck and/or back.
One estimate puts the direct costs for simple whiplash at over US$9 billion in the United States alone, not including the costs associated with the loss of work productivity and human suffering.
The phenomenon will be addressed at the World Congress of Neck Pain, which is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, California, from Jan. 20-22, 2008.
Among other things, the Congress will take a look at unsafe cars, and their contribution to whiplash injuries.
For example, Congress organizers cite Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studies, which found that seat or head restraints in more than 60% of car models fall short of current state-of the art protection from neck injury or whiplash.
A better design might reduce the number of whiplash injuries, Congress organizers say.
During the past decade, the design of automobile seats and head restraints has been changing, Dr. Adrian Lund, the section chair on automotive safety at the Congress, says in a press release. Many head restraints in newer vehicles are higher and closer to occupants heads with seats designed to absorb the energy of rear impacts in order to reduce the risk of neck injury during a crash.
The Congress will present actual evidence showing how these design changes are affecting the risk of neck injury in rear crashes.